Wangard looks for summer start on Brady/Water project

Wangard Partners Inc. hopes to begin construction by summer 2013 on its planned apartment development overlooking the Milwaukee River at E. Brady and N. Water streets.

Tony DeRosa, Wangard Partners vice president, said the firm is still working on the details, and hasn't yet filed a proposal for city zoning approval. The hilltop parcel runs from a vacant home, at 1693 N. Water St., through the Habhegger Wheel and Axle buildings to the Holton St. bridge.

DeRosa told me Wangard is planning to build 150 apartments, and 15,000 square feet of commercial space, on the 2.7 acre site. It would take about a year to build, he said.

An investment group led by Wangard bought the property this summer from Madison-based AnchorBank.

Meanwhile, Wangard expects to begin work in early 2013 on the Park East Square apartments, planned for the vacant block bordered by N. Milwaukee, N. Jefferson and E. Lyon streets and E. Ogden Ave. The $22 million first phase will include 86 apartments, 14,600 square feet of retail space and 246 parking spaces

Commercial Real Estate News

For decades, Brookfield's Blue Mound Road has been the Milwaukee area's busiest retail corridor, extending westward from its anchor at Brookfield Square mall to Barker Road.

Now, that landscape is changing, with five major retail projects under construction — including Brookfield Square's latest redevelopment phase, and the Von Maur department store-anchored retail center known as The Corners.

Blue Mound Road features dozens of shopping centers and stand-alone retail buildings on the three-mile stretch between Moorland and Barker Roads. Those buildings have long enjoyed high occupancy rates, said Bruce Westling, principal at NAI MLG Commercial and a veteran retail leasing broker.(12)